Pantalone v. Advanced Energy Delivery Systems, Inc.

694 A.2d 1213, 1997 R.I. LEXIS 205, 1997 WL 330269
CourtSupreme Court of Rhode Island
DecidedJune 16, 1997
Docket95-717-Appeal
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 694 A.2d 1213 (Pantalone v. Advanced Energy Delivery Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pantalone v. Advanced Energy Delivery Systems, Inc., 694 A.2d 1213, 1997 R.I. LEXIS 205, 1997 WL 330269 (R.I. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

WEISBERGER, Chief Justice.

This case comes before us on the appeals of David J. and Lisa Coumoyer (the Cour-noyers) and Gloria J. McAlice (McAlice) from an order of the Superior Court granting a new trial to the defendant, Advanced Energy Delivery Systems, Inc. (Energy). We also have before us an appeal by Energy from the denial of its motion for a directed verdict. Stephen Pantalone (Pantalone), who was a plaintiff below and also a eodefendant in the case brought by the Coumoyers and McAl-ice, did not appeal. We affirm the rulings of the trial justice in respect to the motion for a new trial and the denial of the motion for directed verdict. The facts of the case insofar as pertinent to this appeal are as follows.

On the dates pertinent to this controversy Pantalone operated a business known as the Subway Shop. In conjunction with his business he utilized an electric ice machine. On March 9,1991, a fire occurred on the premises leased by Pantalone for the operation of his business. As a result of the fire, personal property owned by the Cournoyers and by McAlice that had been placed in a storage facility located beneath Pantalone’s Subway Shop was damaged or destroyed.

Sixteen days before the fire, Pantalone’s ice machine became inoperative. He called Energy to service the machine. An employee of Energy, Regis Smeltz (Smeltz), responded to the cal and repaired the machine’s power-cord plug. However, he formed the opinion that the electrical outlet or receptacle that provided power for the machine had been damaged. He informed Pantalone that it would be necessary to obtain the services of an electrician to repair the outlet. He stated that he was not licensed to do such electrical work or repairs. *1215 Pantalone responded that he needed the ice machine in order to run his business and consequently borrowed an extension cord and utilized another electric outlet located at some distance from the ice machine across the room from where the machine was located. Smeltz made the loan and indicated to Pantalone that this solution was temporary only and that he would return to pick up the extension cord. He advised Pantalone to obtain the service of an electrician.

Pantalone ran the extension cord across two freezer units and also in close proximity to heat-emitting compressors and a number of empty cardboard boxes. Pantalone testified that unfortunately he could not afford an electrician and left the extension cord in place, although he noted that it was warm to the touch.

One witness (Toni Kent) testified in a deposition (later recanted at trial) that Pantal-one replaced Energy’s extension cord with one obtained by him prior to the fire since he expected Smeltz to pick up the borrowed extension cord.

Evidence was introduced at trial that the use of an extension cord in these circumstances violated the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code. Expert testimony was admitted from the fire inspector and from an expert in fire reconstruction that the fire was caused by an overheated extension cord that then ignited flammable materials in the vicinity.

At the close of the evidence Energy moved for a directed verdict. 1 The trial justice reserved decision and denied the motion following the jury’s verdict. The jury rendered a verdict finding Pantalone’s negligence 90 percent responsible for the fire and resulting damage and Energy’s negligence 10 percent responsible for the fire and the damage. In support of its appeal Energy argues that the trial justice erred in denying its motion for directed verdict. In support of their appeal, the Cournoyers and McAlice argue that the trial justice erred in granting Energy’s motion for a new trial. These issues will be considered in the order raised in the parties’ briefs. Further facts will be supplied as needed in order to discuss these issues.

I

The Motion for Directed Verdict

Energy argues that Pantalone’s failure to summon an electrician and provide an appropriate electrical outlet for his machine and his improper use of an extension cord for sixteen days constituted an independent intervening cause that would absolve Energy from its employee’s negligence in lending an extension cord to Pantalone initially. Energy relies on Walsh v. Israel Couture Post, No. 2274 V.F.W., 542 A.2d 1094 (R.I.1988), wherein we held that the failure of the VFW to repair damage or post warnings relating to structural damage caused by a truck owned by L.W. Fontaine Trucking Co., Inc., constituted an intervening efficient cause that absolved Fontaine from its original negligence. We observed:

“This court has long held that when a second actor has become aware of the existence of a potential danger caused by the negligence of a first actor and the second actor acts negligently with regard to the dangerous condition, thereby bringing about an accident with injurious consequences to others, the first actor is relieved of liability. This is so because the condition created by the first actor is merely a circumstance and not the proximate cause of the accident.” Id. at 1096-97.

In that case we also recognized that “an intervening act of negligence will not insulate an original tortfeasor if it appears that such intervening act is a natural and probable consequence of the initial tortfeasor’s act.” Id. at 1097. “If, however, the intervening cause was not reasonably foreseeable, the intervening or secondary act becomes the sole proximate cause of the plaintiffs injuries.” Almeida v. Town of North Providence, 468 A.2d 915, 917 (R.I.1983).

In Walsh we held as a matter of law that the failure of the VFW either to repair or to post warnings for a period of nine days was not foreseeable and thus constituted an inde *1216 pendent intervening cause. 542 A.2d at 1096. In Walsh a member of the VFW post fell and sustained injuries when he leaned against a railing that had become dislodged when struck by Fontaine’s truck. Id. at 1095.

In the case at bar the trial justice, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion, and without considering the credibility of witnesses or weighing the evidence, found that there was a question of fact relating to the issue of foreseeability. Generally the question of foreseeability constitutes an issue of fact that is properly submitted to the jury. Roberts v. Kettelle, 116 R.I. 283, 295, 356 A.2d 207, 215 (1976). In Roberts we stated that “[t]he test for remoteness is whether the intervening act could reasonably have been foreseen as a natural and probable result of the original act of negligence of the defendant.” Id. at 295, 356 A.2d at 215. In the case at bar, applying the same standards as applied by the trial justice, Rickey v. Boden, 421 A.2d 539, 542-43 (R.I.1980);

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Bluebook (online)
694 A.2d 1213, 1997 R.I. LEXIS 205, 1997 WL 330269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pantalone-v-advanced-energy-delivery-systems-inc-ri-1997.